With its location on Lake Ontario, Oswego is known for its legendary lake effect snow. And while every year has the potential for mountains of the white stuff, certain years saw blizzards of historic proportions.

Alumni who were on campus in the years 1958, 1966, 1978 and 1993 will never forget how Oswego made headlines around the country and across the globe for the feet of snow that piled up in a matter of hours.

Judy Driscoll Skillen ’61 recalled the snowstorm that greeted students returning from the 1958 Thanksgiving Break. “I was living in Johnson at the time,” she said. “We never went to school that whole week. They airlifted in food.” Other grads tell stories of climbing out second story windows and walking on the tops of cars.

While I write this, the snow is still on the ground here, but the sun is out and we’re busy finalizing the plans for our special Sesquicentennial Reunion Celebration 2011, scheduled for June 10-12. A record-breaking crowd of alumni and friends is expected to return to campus to reconnect with the college and with friends to celebrate 150 years of Oswego’s rich history of education, service and making a difference.

An $86,000 grant from the National Science Foundation will provide SUNY Oswego meteorology faculty member Scott Steiger ’99 and his students the tools to chase the most intense snowstorms and collect first-of-its-kind data.